


With No Regrets

by tabbytabbytabby



Category: The Rookie (TV 2018)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, First Kiss, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Season/Series 02, Worried Tim Bradford
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-10
Updated: 2019-12-10
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:07:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21739594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tabbytabbytabby/pseuds/tabbytabbytabby
Summary: When Lucy turns up missing, Tim doesn't take it well.
Relationships: Tim Bradford/Lucy Chen
Comments: 16
Kudos: 218





	With No Regrets

**Author's Note:**

> The winter finale left me needing things, so here we are. I'm just trying to find a way to survive until February.
> 
> For the pleading slot of Bad Things Happen Bingo.

Tim's met with silence as he enters the room. No one will meet his eyes. It's not uncommon. He knows the kind of persona he gives off. But this feels different.

Something's happened. 

He looks around the room for Chen, but doesn't see her. Strange. She knows better than to be late by now. 

"Officer Bradford." Tim's broken out of his thoughts by Sergeant Grey calling for him. 

"Sarge," Tim says. "What's going on? Why's everyone look like someone died?"

"Oh God," Nolan mutters, putting his head in his hands. "Please don't say that."

When Tim raises an eyebrow, Sarge beckons him forward. "This isn't easy to say."

"Then just get it over with," Tim says. He looks around the room with a growing sense of unease. "And where the hell is my boot?"

"Officer Chen is missing," Sarge tells him. 

"Missing?"

Sarge nods. "Our killer, he has her."

Tim's body goes cold. Surely he's heard wrong. There's no way Chen could be in the hands of this guy. She's fine. She just had too many drinks last night. Something, anything other than this.

"Are you sure?" 

"Unfortunately I am," Sarge says. "He sent us these." He holds up an envelope, which Tim quickly takes, momentarily forgetting propriety. "Officer Bradford, maybe you shouldn't…"

Tim ignores him, tearing the envelope open and taking out its contents. The first thing is Lucy's phone, smashed beyond use. The second is her badge, which feels Tim with as much rage as the third thing, a group of pictures, all of Lucy. 

Tim swallows thickly as he looks through them, doing his best to keep his composure. Even if inside he's screaming at the sight of her beaten and bloody.

"Do you think she's alive?"

Tim has to ask. He needs to know there's hope. Despite knowing that no matter what anyone says he's going to tear this city apart until he finds her.

"I don't think he would have sent us these if she wasn't," Detective Armstromg says. "He's playing with us. He wants us to know he's in control."

"We'll see about that," Tim mutters. 

"We don't even know who this guy is," the detective says. 

"That's not necessarily true," Tim says. His thoughts flash to the guy that came to visit Lucy and he frowns. He'd known there was something off with the guy. He doesn't know who else could have gotten close enough to Lucy to do this. "There was a guy she was talking to. He came to see her here, at the station. Which means…"

"We have him on camera," Sarge says, and Tim nods. "Do you remember what time he came in? Would you recognize him?"

Tim doesn't think he'll ever forget the face now. It'll probably haunt his nightmares. Even more so if they don't get Lucy back. 

"We've identified him," Sarge says later, after they've combed the security videos and ran his face. They got a hit. The guy hasn't been all that careful. Which worries Tim more. He doesn't think he needs to be careful, as if he doesn't have anything to lose.

Guilt eats away at Tim. He's the one that pushed Lucy to go out last night, assuring her it was better to blow off some steam rather than going home. If he'd kept his damn mouth shut she'd be here right now. But she's not, and that's on him. 

He promises himself that he's going to find her and get her back to safety so that he can make it up to her. Whatever it takes. 

It's almost a full two days of searching and dead end after dead end. The longer they spend looking, the more the likelihood of finding her alive decreases. Something Tim tries not to think about. He can't go there. 

She's strong. She's a fighter. She's going to be okay. She has to be. Tim can't let himself think of the alternative. It will only drive him crazy, and this is hard enough already. 

They're following yet another lead at the end of the second day. There's an old cabin outside of town that belonged to their killers grandmother. Someone had spotted him at a nearby gas station less than an hour ago. 

It's the closest they've gotten, and Tim has to battle back his nerves as they make their way towards the cabin, Tim taking the back with Lopez and West while Nolan, Harper, and Armstrong take the front. 

"She's going to be okay," Tim hears Jackson muttering to himself. It's the same thing Tim has been repeating in his head the past two days. He's been silently pleading with anyone that might be listening for her to be okay. He picks it up now, holding onto that little bit of hope as they enter the cabin. He needs to. For her. 

He signals for Jackson to search the kitchen and Lopez the hall to their left while he moves towards the stairs leading towards the basement. He'd say it was instinct that told him this is where he should go, but it's just knowing that guys like this always hide things in the basement.

He clicks on his flashlight as he makes his way down the stairs, and has to fight the urge to gag the closer he gets to the bottom. It smells like death down here. 

He scans the room, looking for any sign that Lucy is here. 

"Tim."

He freezes at the sound of her voice. It's hoarse and quiet from disuse, but unmistakably hers. 

"Chen?" He spins around towards where her voice came from, and sees her. She's curled up against the wall, barely moving. He rushes forward, falling to his knees in front of her. "Where are you hurt?" he asks her.

"Nothing serious," she says. "Unless you count starvation, dehydration, and a few broken bones."

"Two of those things could have killed you if we hadn't found you when we did," Tim tells her. 

"You found me," she says, giving him a weak smile. "I knew you would."

Tim doesn't get a chance to reply before she's closing her eyes, and her head falls to the dude m side. Tim curses and brings his fingers up to her neck feeling for a pulse. 

It's there. Not as strong as he'd like it to be, but it's present. That'll have to do for now. Until he's able to get her to the hospital to get checked out. 

* * *

Tim spends a while sitting by her bed. Long after everyone else has come and gone. He needs that reassurance that she'd going to be okay. 

She wakes while he's there. Here's slouched in his chair, his head resting against a pillow he's put between it and the wall. 

At the sight of her stirring he sits up straighter, the pillow falling to the ground. Not that he cares much. His eyes are only on her. 

"Chen?"

She groans in response, turning her head towards him as she peeks her eyes open. "Tim?"

"Yeah it's me," he says, getting to his feet and over to the side of her bed. "Everyone else has gone home so you're stuck with me."

And the extra security detail outside until they catch this guy. Though he's not itching to tell her he's still in the wind. She doesn't need that right now. 

"They say you're going to be okay," he tells her instead. "You were pretty dehydrated but the IV has been dying a good job of helping with that."

"Can I have some water?" Lucy asks. "And maybe a toothbrush? My mouth feels like someone died in it." He winces and she frowns. "Sorry. I just… well you know what I mean."

He nods, "I'll get someone to help you up."

"What? You can't do it?"

He _can_. He knows her doctor and nurses would prefer their staff do it. But damn it, part of Tim wants to be the one to help her. 

It's a strange feeling considering he's usually wanting to encourage her independence and have her do things on her own. But now doesn't feel like the time for that. Not when she almost died and he'd been helpless to stop it. 

He shakes the thought away. He can't go there. "Come on, Boot." He helps her up and stands there a moment, making sure she's steady. "You good?"

She rolls her eyes even as she grips his arms tightly. "Yeah, I'm good. Not gonna pass out if that's what you're thinking."

"I'm not," Tim says. "But you were severely dehydrated and malnourished. No one could blame you if you needed some rest."

"I'm fine," she sighs. "They say that staying in bed too long just drains your strength and the only way to get your strength up is to move."

"Where'd you here that?" he asks her, trying to keep her talking as they make their way towards the sink. "One of your medical TV shows?"

"No," she says. Though the light coloring to her cheeks lets him know he wasn't wrong. "I have a friend that's a nurse. She told me."

"Uh huh. Just brush your teeth, boot."

She doesn't argue for once, just reaches for the toothbrush and toothpaste the hospital provided her. He looks away, trying not to watch her, even as he keeps a hand on her back. 

The water turns off and she looks over at him. "I'm done."

He nods and steps back, giving her room to turn around, both careful not to get tripped up in the IV tubing. 

She walks slowly back to the bed, Tim behind her with a hand on her back. He doesn't want to admit that she's right and she already seems stronger. 

"I want to sit in the chair," she tells him, nodding her head to the chair by the bed. 

Tim makes sure she's safely in her seat before taking the chair next to hers. It's closer than they'd normally sit, their legs are touching, but he makes no move to pull back. Part of him needs to keep some sort of contact. It's a way to know she's really here. She's safe. 

She almost wasn't and that's on him. He's going to do whatever it takes to make up for that.

"I'm sorry," Tim says. He looks at the wall in the distance, unable to meet her eyes. "I'm sorry I pushed you to go out that night."

Lucy scoffs, "You didn't push me. I'm a grown ass woman. I went out because I wanted to. It only had a little bit to do with you."

"A little?"

"Well yeah. I knew you didn't like him and it would annoy you if it was him I was spending time with," Lucy says. 

Tim's face is incredulous when he finally meets her eyes. She's smiling. "You went out with someone just to annoy me?"

"I'm sure it would have worked beautifully if you know, he hadn't kidnapped and tried to kill me," Lucy says. 

"This isn't the time for jokes, Chen."

"I almost died," she says. "If I don't try to find some humor I'm going to lose it, and I really don't want to break down in front of you."

"No one would blame you if you did," Tim says. "Not after what you went through."

"Why are you being so nice to me?" she asks him.

Tim scoffs, "I'm not."

He is. He knows he is. But he's not going to let her know that. She's insufferable enough already. 

He can tell by the way she grins that she sees right though him. She's gotten pretty good at that lately. 

"You are," she says. "I think you were worried about me."

"Of course I was!" Tim isn't able to keep the emotion out of his voice. "You were missing for two days, Lucy! With a man that has killed multiple people. How could I not be worried? You're my boot."

"I think it's more than that," she says quietly. 

He fights the urge to look away. He knows she's not just talking about them being friends. "Lucy, this isn't the time."

"When will it be?" she asks. "If this has taught me anything, it's that life is short. I don't want to spend it with regrets for the things I never did. So…"

He's frozen as she leans across the short distance between them and kisses him. It's just a soft, hesitant brush of lips before she's pulling back, but it's enough to set aflame the spark he's been denying for a long time now. 

Tim follows her as she retreats, and brings a hand to the back of her neck, drawing her back in for another kiss. 

There are so many reasons he shouldn't be doing this, but the most important reason he should is right here in front of him. They'll have to talk about it. He knows they will. But for now he lets himself have this, with no regrets.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Kudos/comments make my day ♥  
> [My tumblr](http://tabbytabbytabby.tumblr.com/)


End file.
